The Next Great Media Company Won't Have a Web Site

Lately I have noticed that many of the people, blogs, news services and more that I want to track are right inside Facebook. I have even filed them under a list called "feeds."

This is very convient since their updates are integrated right into my stream right beside the people that I follow - friends, family, coworkers, etc.

This has tremendous potential. Conceivably the next great media company will be all spokes and no hub. It will exist as a constellation of connected apps and widgets that live inside other sites and offer a full experience plus access to your social graph and robust community features. Each of these may interconnect too so that a media company's community on Facebook can talk to the same on Twitter.

Facebook might be the first venue where this starts. It could become a mini news reader for millions who don't care about RSS or Twitter. Over time this may obviate the need to create large news sites. It's easier to create a rich interactive experience there than start a new news site and hope that people come to you. They won't have time to find or visit.

In some ways this is a return to the old days of AOL where media companies rushed to develop a presence. Ultimately the web won out. But I wonder if we might see a return here to the days of old now that eyeballs are aggregating on socal networks and the connective tissue exists for them to talk to each other.

I do believe it's possible to be successful here. Witness for example the New England Patriots. That said it will be very difficult for existing media companies to make such a move. What's your view?

Key Stats About Wikipedia

Via Resource Shelf and embedded below are some key stats about Wikipedia.

A Week in the Clouds Without a Notebook

On average I travel for business about seven to 15 days a month. Sometimes it can get a bit nuts, but I love it - I never get bored. This is one of those weeks. I will literally be in the clouds all week both virtually and physically.

I am starting my journey today in Toronto. Tomorrow I am speaking at the MIXX conference and will also participate in staff, client, industry and press meetings. Wednesday I head to Atlanta for the day for another private event and then right back up to Montreal that night. Thursday I am speaking at MIXX in Montreal. I head home for one night and then do a round-trip from NY to DC on Friday for, yes, another speaking gig. (Map above. I like maps!)

Despite the travel, however, I still need to be productive. I need to stay in touch with my colleagues and clients and also do some writing. Also, I want to stay in touch with you here on my lifestream and on social networks. Mobile technology is my friend here.

I have a couple of different laptops that I take on trips. All of them are light. But you see, I am on a quest. I want ditch my laptop on every trip and only carry a smartphone and my Iamakey for the rest. Right now I have an iPhone 3GS but I may add a Blackberry to complement it. My key files and even some portable apps are encrypted on the USB key.

The reason is simple: all of these devices are pocketable. A laptop isn't. I don't want to carry a laptop because it's mental baggage. I don't want to be thinking about where it is. Smartphones and USB keys are like appendages. I always know where they are. Plus, I know that one day soon we won't need to carry laptops on business trips because these phones - which are really pocket computers - will be able to do it all, including hook up to hotel TVs. I am trying to experience this future now.

I have gone sans laptop on business trips before but this one at three nights is the longest one yet - although I am home for one night in between trips. I have tweaked my setup so that the apps and services I use on my smartphone are identical to what I use on my Mac at home and - to a large degree - my desktop PC at work. I like the simplicity and consistency of it all.

Here's what I using... (workflow below)

• Writing and To Do List - WriteRoom (which now has TextExpander support to speed up typing)


• Contacts and Calendar - Address Book and iCal, which connect with our Exchange Server 


• Notes - WriteRoom for temporary storage, Evernote for archiving (more on this in a subsequent post on lifelogging)


• Files - Documents to Go, and if necessary, my IamaKey and Box.net/Sharepoint


• Mindmapping - Mindjet and Mindnode


• RSS - NetNewsWire, which syncs to Google Reader


• Twitter - Tweetie


• Plus, of course, Posterous and Instapaper for sharing and reading

The only thing I can't do with this setup is create or edit a PowerPoint deck, although I can view them. This is one reason I am considering getting a Blackberry too - you can edit PPT. I don't anticipate I will need to on this trip. However, I will need to write, but I can actually do so on my phone quite comfortably. If some people can write books on cell phones, then I can certainly crank out shorter stuff too.

You probably think I am nuts, but I hate carrying laptops. I have done so for years. I will keep you posted on my progress. Sometimes I am on the road seven or nine days at a time. I don't think I can ditch a laptop on these trips, but this journey might convince me otherwise. Wish me luck.

Debate: Can You Still Build a Profitable Blog?

Earlier this week I appeared on Canadian TV (specifically BNN.ca) where I discussed blogging vs. lifestreaming with Lainey Lui of Laineygossip.com and eTalk. During the interview I maintained that it's difficult today to build a profitable blog since many of the big niches are taken. Lainey disagreed. What's your view?

Google: US Flu Activity Already Nearing Seasonal Peak

I remain fascinated what you can do with search data. You can truly read minds since how we search is becoming a direct reflection our society. 

Google has a site called Flu Trends where they use search data to assess how widespread the flu is in a few different regions of the world, as well as state by state in the US. I pulled up the US page this morning and was shocked by the activity. Even though it's early in the season, flu-related activity in the US is already nearing the seasonal peak point of prior years.

With companies, NGOs and governments partnering together for greater good, I hope Google is sharing this aggregate data to help officials make smarter decisions about how to keep us as healthy as possible. Fascinating stuff.